LAFAYETTTE — A quick brush of nostalgia combined with a sense of immediate importance will perhaps predominate as the underlying themes at M.L. “Tigue” Moore field starting Thursday night.

Farewells of sorts and nearly five decades of memories of the present facility will intersect with the significance of the three-day Sun Belt Conference series, which ends the regular season for UL when the Cajuns face UL-Monroe.

The main section of 3,755-seat Tigue Moore Field, first used as the home of Cajuns’ baseball in 1978, said UL baseball coach Tony Robichaux, will begin a partial demolition beginning sometime in June.

That will start a $13 million main grandstand enhancement and expansion project with a projected completion set before the start of the 2017 season, Robichaux said this week.

Contractors will in about a month begin pouring a foundation that Robichaux said will support a four-story building,

While recollections from some of the field’s most memorable games are part of the weekend’s ambiance, the series with ULM with Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. first pitch, also holds key importance, Robichaux said.

The second-place Cajuns (34-19) need a sweep of ULM (20-32) in order to maintain pace with SBC leader South Alabama. The conference race narrowed somewhat last weekend when the Cajuns took two games in a best-of-three series in Mobile against USA.

USA (37-16) plays Troy (20-23) this weekend. The Jaguars also need to defeat the Trojans at least twice to avoid a tie with the Cajuns.

South Alabama is 20-7 in the SBC. The Cajuns are 18-9 and in second place behind the Jaguars. ULM is 10-17 in conference games.

Robichaux said during his press conference Monday that Tigue Moore Field has played a major role in most of his baseball life. Robichaux played there as a high school and American Legion player and again in college.

Then as a young college coach Robichaux brought his McNeese State teams to Lafayette to play at Tigue Moore. When he became head coach UL baseball coach, Robichaux began to extract more episodes that still haven’t been erased.

Robichaux recalled one incident, probably around 1979, when he was a high school player preparing for a game at Tigue Moore. A gentleman approached Robichaux and told Robichaux that he needed to tuck in his uniform shirt.

The man, Robichaux learned later, was Tigue Moore, a prominent supporter of amateur, college and American Legion baseball in the Acadiana area.

Moore, according to UL athletic officials, was also responsible in 1979 for planting pine seedlings behind the outfield fences. Today, the pine trees serve as a decorative aspect of the field.

The field was named Moore Field in 1979 and in 1995, Robichaux’s first season at UL, the facility was named M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.

Before that the Cajuns played their home baseball games just beyond the former McNaspy Stadium across from Girard Park.

UL has won 865 games at Tigue Moore Field since its inception, including 19 this year.

“I know Tigue Moore Field has meant a lot to these fans. I played there in high school. I know how much baseball was for (Moore). Now it’s time to carry that baton further for a field that has been so special and meant so much to our fans.

“We will hopefully leave something behind and enhance things. I don’t look at it as a sad day. I think rather it should be looked upon as a good moment to move the program forward,” Robichaux said.

In an interview Robichaux said personally Tigue Moore Field holds some personal significance, such as the Cajuns’ winning a 2000 NCAA regional there. Later that team went on to play in the College World Series at Omaha.

Robichaux also recalled the first Tigue Moore Field game when he watched son Justin, a pitcher and first baseman, enter the batter’s box for the first time as a college player.

Justin Robichaux responded to the occasion with a dramatic moment, hitting a homer that sailed over the Tigue Moore scoreboard in his first collegiate at bat.

Then son Austin Robichaux pitched a 2-0 Super Regional victory over Ole Miss in 2013 after pitching a shutout against nationally-ranked Alabama.